1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically turning a page of a book, and more particularly, to an apparatus for automatically turning pages of a book or a music book one by one while a user reads the book, types or particularly, plays a musical instrument.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional apparatus for automatically turning a page of a book is disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 2001-81840 filed in the name of the present applicant. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the conventional apparatus for automatically turning a page of a book, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a major portion of FIG. 1. As shown in the figures, in the conventional apparatus 200, when a power switch 260 is manipulated in a state where a music book is kept open on a top surface of a casing 250, a geared motor 230 is operated.
Then, a guider 203 receives rotational force through gear units 202 and 205 and rotates in a forward direction to cause an actuating lever 255, which has a lower end hingedly secured on a pivoting shaft 201 and penetrates through a guide slot 204 formed in the guider 203, to pivot upwardly. At this time, since the guide slot 204 of the guider 203 is formed to make an acute angle downwardly with respect to a horizontal direction, the actuating lever 255 escapes from the casing 250 and moves in an aft direction while pivoting upwardly. The actuating lever 255 is guided by a helical depressing piece 260 so that a pressing piece 256 at an upper end of the actuating lever 255 remains in close contact with a page to be turned.
Further, the rotational force of the gear units 202 and 205 causes a pressure contact piece 270 protruding beyond the top surface of the casing 250 to move in the aft direction and to press down a lower end of the page to be turned. That is, the rotational force of the gear unit 205 is also transmitted to a crankshaft 271. At this time, the crankshaft 271 causes a stopper 273 to be moved against the tension of an elastic member 272, so that a hook piece 274 of the stopper 273 is caught in a fixing piece. Since the stopper 273 is connected to the pressure contact piece 270 via a wire 275, the movement of the stopper 273 causes the pressure contact piece 270 to press down the lower end of the page to be turned.
Meanwhile, in the page to be turned which is about to be moved upwardly with the pressing piece 256 brought into close contact therewith, a portion of the page inside of the portion pressed by the pressure contact piece 270 bulges in the fore direction. Therefore, the actuating lever 255 pivoting upwardly pushes the lower end of the page to be turned and is then introduced to the back of the page. Thereafter, the actuating lever 255 pivots in the left direction along an arc, thereby turning the page to the left. At this time, the turned page is caught by a supporting piece 257 and thus is prevented from returning to the original position. Accordingly, the user can conveniently continue to perform current operations.
However, the conventional apparatus 200 has problems in that since there are the configuration in which the single geared motor 230 is used for both the pivoting of the actuating lever 255 in the right and left direction and the movement of the pressure contact piece 270 in the fore and aft direction, and the additional configuration for causing the actuating lever 255 to come into close contact with the page to be turned, the mechanical mechanism of the apparatus is inevitably complicated and operational noises and failures often occur due to large load on the geared motor 230. Further, if the pivoting of the actuating lever 255 and the operation of the pressure contact piece 270 for pressing down the page to be turned and being separated therefrom are not performed in an organic manner, there is a problem in that the page may be crumpled or torn in a worst case.
Moreover, according to the conventional apparatus 200, it is difficult to properly adapt to changes in the thickness and the number of pages of a book since the position of the supporting piece 257 is fixed on the top surface of the casing 250. For example, if a wind blows, a turned page may be easily returned back to a page to be turned. Furthermore, according to the conventional apparatus 200, there is a risk that foreign materials or dust might be introduced into a lever slit 251 and a pressure contact piece slit 252 formed in the top surface of the casing 250, thereby causing operational failures.
In addition, according to the conventional apparatus 200, since the power switch 260 manipulated with a user's foot is connected to the casing 250 by means of an electric wire, there is inconvenience in playing a musical instrument or performing other operations.